Article by Abigail Elsom

Ecofeminism, what even is it? Why should we be paying attention to it and what answers could it give to climate change which leading global powers aren’t already giving? As citied in S. Buckinghams article, she identified eco-feminism as the ‘bringing together (of) feminism and environmentalism, ecofeminism argues that the domination of women and the degradation of the environment are consequences of patriarchy and capitalism’ (S. Buckingham, 2015) which best encompasses the strand of ecofeminism needed on the global stage to ensure the breakdown of patriarchal structures in order to act on the real causes of climate change and pave the way out of the mess we are in.

On the surface, eco-feminism seems to be like any other climate change movement, looking to better the environment and enable greater sustainability, however, eco-feminism is tackling the drivers of climate change, the patriarchy, and pay closer detail on breaking this structure down in order to lead to the greater good of the environment. One way of breaking this down is by creating spaces where woman can have a voice. As stated by MacGregor, ‘there remains a blindness to the role of gender and the relevance of ecofeminist theory in the environmental social sciences, including in the environmental justice field.’ (MacGregor, 2020). With a lack of recognition, eco-feminists are unable to truly play a role on the fight for climate change however, by allowing for greater descriptive representation, their aims stated by MacGregor which ‘involves reimagining the concept of sustainability to promote flourishing of and dialogues between all earth’s inhabitants’ (MacGregor, 2020) offers a new insight to climate policy and is potentially the answer to all of our questions which have yet to be answered by the current global actors taking initiatives on climate policy, which are evidently created out of patriarchal greed and the desire to better their own state, in the eyes of male domination, having complete disregard for those who are facing the consequences.

But what do we mean by our current global actors are failing the environment in the eyes of male domination? We can assess this through procedural justice as identified by MacGregor as ‘decisions arrived at fairly’ (MacGregor, 2020). The question I ask you is do you think woman currently possess procedural justice? As cited on the House of Commons Library, the current makeup of Woman MPs is at 40%, despite women making up 51% of the UK population (Allen, 2024), which supports the claim that there is a lack of descriptive representation of woman on the global stage which inevitably, as McGregor stated, means that ‘men make up the majority of those making decisions effecting environmental quality’ (McGregor, 2020) and are therefore the ones to point fingers to when we do not see any policies striving towards greater sustainability, but rather ones striving towards the protection of patriarchal structures which ‘mask the existence of deep, structural injustices in the design, maintenance and governance of human societies.’ (McGregor, 2020). This can be seen through McGregors findings on ‘research on transport routes and housing design show(ing) that they are often based on the life patterns of employed men (2020, cited in Jarvis et al., 2009) and ‘the adult male body is used as the default in medical education and research, which results in a lack of knowledge about how drugs and chemicals affect the bodies of women, children and elder people (2020, cited in Westervelt, 2015).

Despite this hostility, eco-feminism has continuously challenged the culture nature divide on what it means to be masculine and what it means to be feminine. To care about the environment is seen to be feminine concept and is shunned by those trying to embrace their masculinity, but the breakdown of these gender roles is absolutely key to coming together as citizens of the world to truly tackle climate change to save the world we all share divided by gender role socialisation. McGregor clearly captures this point by stating that ‘gender is not just an empirical category or identity (and not reducible to male/female), but also a discursive social construction that organizes the world’ (McGregor, 2020).

Ultimately, as the structures of patriarchy continue, the climate issue also continues and without a breakdown of the patriarchy, gender roles and procedural injustice, the impacts made on the environment may be somewhat irreversible. Therefore, eco-feminism is evidently the only way forward in fighting climate change in order to save the environment we all love and cherish and greater awareness and participation of the movement is absolutely necessary.

References:

Allen, G. (2024) 2024 general election: How many women were elected? House of Commons Library. Available at: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/2024-general-election-how-many-women-were-elected (Accessed: 28 October 2024).

Buckingham, S. (2015) Ecofeminism, International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences (Second Edition). Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780080970868910201 (Accessed: 28 October 2024).

MacGregor, S. (2020) ‘Gender matters in environmental justice’, in Environmental Justice: Key Issues. London: Brendan Coolsaet, pp. 234–245.

Related